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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29590599">And they were flatmates</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurasimonsdaughter/pseuds/laurasimonsdaughter'>laurasimonsdaughter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Akwards to Friends to Lovers, Aromantic, Asexual Character, Familiars, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Human, Nonbinary Character, Other, Roommates, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:06:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,563</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29590599</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurasimonsdaughter/pseuds/laurasimonsdaughter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a human named Yule tries to peacefully cohabit with a werewolf and a vampire and a witch named Tomek is an extremely amused accidental witness to how bad a job they are doing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>werewolf/vampire - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was a tiny little one-shot, but the characters stuck with me enough to demand more.<br/>Whatever ficlets I post on tumblr will get edited to be a more coherent story and posted here!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tomek generally made a point of not reading too much into his customer’s mannerisms, but werewolves’ tells were always rather hard to ignore. Well, it seemed that way anyway, perhaps it was just the obvious ones, of course.</p><p>Either way, the person currently wandering vaguely through the store, trying not to sniff too obviously at the shelves, was clearly a werewolf. It was just as clear that they didn’t know what they were here for, or at least not where to find it, and were stalling for time before coming to ask him. He had far too much experience working here to go up to them to offer assistance though. It made too many people uncomfortable or jumpy, and that was a dangerous game in this business.</p><p>So Tomek stayed behind his counter and looked as welcoming and unoccupied as he could.</p><p>After a while, they wandered closer. “Hi, um–”</p><p>“Evening,” he smiled and they nodded back at him.</p><p>“So,” the customer said, leaning on the counter with slightly clawed hands. “Do you have anything for vampires?”</p><p>“I’m going to need you to specify,” he replied, after a rather awkward silence he had hoped they would fill. “When you say ‘for’, you mean…?” <em>Usually</em> what people meant was “against”, and he really preferred not to sell stuff like that.</p><p>“I mean…” The werewolf grimaced. “Something…nice?”</p><p>Okay, not much clearer, but at least less worrying. “Something nice,” he repeated. “So it’s a gift, then?”</p><p>“No!” they protested hastily. “Well, it’s… We live together and– I mean we <em>share</em> an apartment.”</p><p>Tomek kept his face carefully neutral. As neutral, he hoped, as his customer’s face was embarrassedly expressive. “Right. So you want to buy something nice for the house that they will like?”</p><p>“Yes!” Relief flooded the stubbly features. “Yeah that sounds good.”</p><p>It took him a <em>lot</em> of restraint not to ask any further questions. The world was so unfair sometimes. “Alright,” he carried on. “What sort of vampire are they?”</p><p>The customer’s yellow eyes darted up and down uncertainly. “Uh, he’s…old–er? Likes dramatic music, hates rice…”</p><p>“No, I mean–” He cleared his throat to hide a smile. “Is he undead?”</p><p>“Oh! Yeah, sure.”</p><p>He nodded. “Then I know just the thing. I don’t sell it here, cause it’s not exactly occult, but he’ll love it, trust me.”</p><p>The werewolf slanted their head curiously. “What is it?”</p><p>“A hot water bottle. Preferably more than one. Just leave them lying around somewhere where he’ll find them.”</p><p>They frowned, and they had rather a lot to frown with. “I’ve never heard of that, what do you mean?”</p><p>“They’re rubber bottles, or bags with stoppers more like, that you fill with hot water to keep you warm. In my experience, vampires don’t mind cold, being cold themselves, but they <em>love</em> warmth.”</p><p>“Really?” They sound almost suspicious.</p><p>“I mean, the ones I know do.” He was pretty sure Elsie had four hot water bottles and an electric blanket by now. “But of course I don’t know your friend, so– ”</p><p>“Roommate,” the werewolf mumbled hoarsely.</p><p>“Right,” Tomek corrected hastily. “<em>Roommate</em>.”</p><p>For a moment the werewolf stood at the counter in doubtful contemplation, but then their face brightened and the tension sagged from their shoulders. “Okay! Yeah, thank you, I will do that. Sounds like something they’d have at the drug store, yeah?”</p><p>“Mhm,” he nodded. “I know the one across the fortune telling centre sells them.”</p><p>“Great!” They flashed him a toothy grin and bounded back towards the exit. “Thanks!”</p><p>“Always happy to help. Hope he likes it.”</p><p>“Yeah!” They spun round, walking backwards a few paces. “Uh, great store by the way, sorry I didn’t buy anything. I’ll tell Yule about you though, she loves all this!”</p><p>Tomek nodded, not bothering to answer as the shop bells chimed happily at the closing door. He hoped, for Yule’s sake, whoever she was, that she was <em>not</em> the third roommate in this equation. He <em>also</em> hoped, quite fervently, that if she did decide to stop by, she’d be willing to gossip about her friends to a total stranger.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The shop was quiet when the door chimes rang  – well, as quiet as any occult shop generally got –  but Tomek was too engrossed in his book to look up immediately. Besides, it fit the aesthetic, didn’t it, a witch too preoccupied with the ancient tome they were reading to greet you as you entered. Never mind that it was just a paperback.</p><p>While customers were rather easy to ignore, however, the sudden feeling of his familiar’s magic immediately brought him to attention. “Hey!” he thought as loudly as he could. “No reading customers! Or I won’t bring you again.”</p><p>“But it’s <em>her</em>.” Even though the little scurrying noises in his hood were real, the voice was luckily only tangible inside his own head.</p><p>“I don’t care who she is, it’s bad <em>manners</em>—”</p><p>“It’s Yule!”</p><p>Tomek froze behind the counter, his eyes darting to where the customer was wandering behind the racks of amulets. <em>Oh</em>.</p><p>“Dammit, Myszka.” He grimaced. “How am I supposed to explain to her that I know who she is?”</p><p>A pair of little dormouse paws tapped remorselessly at his cheek. “Then don’t tell her.”</p><p>“You <em>knew </em>I would want to ask her about herroommates.”</p><p>“Yah, I’m being helpful.”</p><p>“You’re a <em>nightmare</em> is what you are.”</p><p>“Excuse me?”</p><p>Tomek looked up straight into the uncertain, cautious face of the woman he knew – but was not <em>supposed </em>to know – to be Yule, roommate to a werewolf and a vampire he did <em>not</em> know but was <em>desperate</em> to hear more about.</p><p>“Sorry! Did I say that out loud?”</p><p>—</p><p>Yule really hoped her smile wasn’t too alarmed. “Um, yes, but if you weren’t talking to me that’s completely fine, sorry for intruding.” That felt like a weird way to phrase it in the current situation, but she only knew a few people who heard voices that others couldn’t – either for occult or neurodivergent reason – and she still fumbled a lot with exactly what to say.</p><p>“Well, I wasn’t, but that doesn’t mean—” The shopkeeper grimaced apologetically. “I was talking to my familiar.”</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>.” She couldn’t quite suppress the little burst of excitement at that. Evan had said that he was a real witch, but an actual <em>familiar</em>.</p><p>“He told me your name, actually.” Another grimace. “I’m really sorry about that, Yule, he knows he’s not supposed to read people.”</p><p>“Well,” she laughed nervously. “I think Ev already told you about me anyway, didn’t they?”</p><p>“Ev…” The shopkeeper grinned. “That’s your werewolf roommate’s name?”</p><p>“Yes!” She was relieved he remembered, otherwise she would have just made this even more awkward. “Well, flatmate,” she corrected with a snort. “If we had to share a room I’d have gone crazy by now.”</p><p>“Right,” he laughed. “So, um, did— Oh, by the way, do you want to see him? My familiar?”</p><p>What a perfectly <em>stupid</em> question to ask. “I would <em>love</em> to. If he wants to come out, of course,” she added hastily.”</p><p>“Oh don’t worry,” the shopkeeper said with a smirk. “He’s not shy.” He hesitated for a moment, fixing her with an appraising look. “Do you dislike rodents?”</p><p>She smiled. “No, I’m cool with rodents.”</p><p>“Oh good.”</p><p>He reached over his shoulder and when he retracted his hand there was a little, furry creature sitting on his palm. It looked like a mouse with a fluffy tail and something almost like a raccoon’s mask in the fur around its eyes. Its long ears swivelled curiously towards her and Yule let out an involuntary sound of pure endearment.</p><p>“His name is Myszka,” the shopkeeper said helpfully. “He’s a dormouse. Oh, and I’m Tomek.”</p><p>“Hi,” Yule laughed. “Nice to meet you. Both of you.”</p><p>Tomek put Myszka on the counter, where he sat up on his hind legs and blinked welcomingly at her. Yule just about managed not to make any more squealing noises and wondered if it would be very disrespectful to ask if she could pet him.</p><p>“I was going to ask…” Tomek began and she hastily looked up at him again.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Did your other room-, uh, flatmate, like the hot water bottles?”</p><p>—</p><p>Luckily she didn’t seem to think that was an odd question for him to ask. On the contrary, she laughed, brown eyes lighting up merrily. “Oh, he <em>so</em> does.”</p><p>Tomek grinned. “<em>Good</em>. I hope it helped.”</p><p>Yule’s eyebrows creased in a slight, curious frown. “What do you mean?”</p><p>Shit. “Oh, just… It seemed like, maybe, there was…a reason? Why they wanted to buy something nice for him? Or ‘for the house’, that he would like…”</p><p>Yule shifted her weight from one hip to the other and gave him what Tomas was pretty sure was a rather appraising look. “You didn’t read Ev as well, did you?”</p><p>He put up his hands. “Absolutely not, swear on my life. And Myszka wasn’t with me that day.”</p><p>Amusement flickered across her face. “So Ev is just that obvious, hm?”</p><p>It took a moment before Tomek was confident he could speak without betraying too much delight. “I have a weakness for people’s drama.” Honesty was the best policy, right?</p><p>Yule heaved a sigh of truly magnificent proportions. “<em>Well</em>, there’s no shortage of that in our house.”</p><p>“I can only imagine.” Now if there would <em>possibly</em> be a way to persuade her to indulge him…</p><p>“You better not,” she shook her head. “You’ll lose your taste for it immediately.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, but I have to disagree,” he said. Any person making heart eyes at Myszka, was deserving of his blatant honestly. “It comes with having no romance drama myself. I don’t need it in <em>my</em> life, but I <em>want</em> it in other people’s lives. Especially if it turns out like the <em>good</em> kind of drama.” And, since she seemed more amused than disapproving at that, he decided to go all out. He planted his hands on the counter, leaned just the least bit towards her and pleaded: “Yule, I don’t know you and I don’t know your friends, but <em>please</em> tell me it’s turning into the good kind of drama.”</p><p>For several, very long moments Yule looked at him with amused, appraising lights dancing in her dark eyes and then, at last, she decidedly shook her head. “Nuh-uh, no, no.” And she poked her finger in his direction with a curve to her mouth that was so infectious Tomek found himself grinning already. “You <em>don’t</em> get to skip straight to the good part. If the universe made <em>me</em> suffer through the past few months, just so it could bring me here to brighten your day, you are going to sit through every <em>horrific</em> detail.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's flashback-story time!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Closing the shop, of course, was not permitted. But sitting in the back room, keeping half an ear out for the shop bell, and getting to know what he sincerely hoped would become a regular customer, Tomek felt was fully within his job description.</p><p>“Thank you,” Yule said excitedly as he handed her her mug. “I <em>love</em> sparking tea, but the only witch café that serves it is all the way across town.”</p><p>“I’m not surprised, most exoteric folk don’t like the taste.”</p><p>“Hey, just cause I can’t use magic doesn’t mean I can’t like the taste of it.” Yule buried her nose in her mug and inhaled deeply, only to cough and blow out some smoke.</p><p>“Rooky mistake,” Tomek chuckled, taking a sip of his own tea.</p><p>“Speak for yourself—” Yule wiped her watering eyes and took a big gulp, humming blissfully.</p><p>On his shoulder Myszka made a small, slightly impatient noise and Tomek silently held up a piece of biscuit for him to take. Yule immediately scrunched up her face in complete endearment. Tomek knew for a fact he’d be dealing with his familiar’s bloated ego for <em>weeks. </em>He could <em>hear</em> Myszka adjust his position on his shoulder for maximum cuteness.</p><p>“Mm, gossip is always better clutching a mug, isn’t it?” Yule sighed, tearing her eyes away from the smug dormouse. “Okay, <em>so</em>—” She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at him in a way that almost made Tomek feel the inclination to sit up straight in his chair. “Do you swear never to breathe a word of what passes my lips in this sacred, really messy backroom of your shop that has some very concerning plants growing in that dark corner over there?”</p><p>He grinned, going so far as to ceremoniously hold up his hand. “Witches’ honour.”</p><p>“Good,” she nodded, leaning back in her chair again. “Then let me tell you about the tragic and absolutely <em>torturous</em> circumstances of my flatmate situation.”</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. And such an obvious solution! This place was basically her dream apartment, but it required two flatmates to make it affordable. Chris wanted to get out of his noisy basement room, Ev was making their first big move away from their pack and they were <em>both</em> worried about finding anyone that would want to live with them. It was perfect! Because surely all that stuff about vampires and werewolves being at each other’s throats was just prejudiced nonsense and of <em>course</em> two of the people that liked her most would also like each other.</p><p>At least, that was what two-months-ago Yule had thought. Present-day Yule had very different thoughts on the matter. Not so much about the prejudice stuff, not even about the liking each other stuff, but <em>very</em> much about this being a good idea.</p><p>“Oh my god, Yule, he’s going to hate me forever,” Ev groaned on Wednesday, lying face first on Yule’s bed.</p><p>“No he won’t.”</p><p>“He <em>will</em>.” Ev let out a suffering growl. “He was so upset over his socks being gone!”</p><p>“Just his left socks,” Yule hummed, as if that should be any consolation. “Which you didn’t know was a thing for vampires, and he <em>did</em> leave them lying around in the bathroom. You were trying to be nice, doing laundry for us all. I appreciated it.”</p><p>Ev was capable of sounding very much like a sad puppy. “He already didn’t like me,” they mumble unhappily into the pillow.</p><p>“That’s not true, Ev.”</p><p>“Is too. Whenever it’s anywhere near full moon he just <em>avoids</em> me.”</p><p>“Not on purpose I’m sure. He likes you fine, Ev, I promise. He’s just…not used to living with people.”</p><p>“People like me, you mean.”</p><p>“People that aren’t dead, I mean,” Yule said deliberately. She sat down on the edge of her bed and stroked through her friend’s wild hair. That, at least, could always be depended upon to make them feel better.</p><p>There were no such shortcuts with Chris. Which was a pity, because Yule really thought she needed some.</p><p>-</p><p>“It’s absolutely <em>mortifying</em>. What must they <em>think</em> of me,” Chris lamented on Monday.</p><p>“I can tell you what they think. They think that you didn’t realise werewolves could hear high frequencies in music.”</p><p>“I woke them up. In the <em>middle</em> of the night.”</p><p>“Ev is up in the middle of the night all the time, Chris.”</p><p>“It is the principle of the thing!”</p><p>Yule sighed. “Will you at least sit down instead of hovering on the doorstep? I’ve asked you inside several times.”</p><p>“I’m not hovering.”</p><p>“You are, just not literally. Please sit down.”</p><p>Chris took a single, uncomfortable step into the room. “…there is no other seat than your bed.”</p><p>Oh bless him. Yule moved from her desk chair to her bed. “There.”</p><p>“Thank you.” It was incredible how prim and proper he managed to sit on a swivelling chair. Surely that was something he must have absorbed from other vampires. Chris wasn’t <em>that</em> old.</p><p>Yule gave him an encouraging smile. “Ev won’t hold it against you, I’m certain.”</p><p>He let out a miserable sigh. “I had hoped to improve their opinion of me, not worsen it.”</p><p>No, not this again. “Whatever are you talking about?”</p><p>“Surely you’ve noticed they disappear whenever I’ve fed. They can’t even stand to look at me.”</p><p>“Chris, Ev eats unspeakable things every month. I <em>promise</em> you they’re not squeamish about blood.”</p><p>Judging from Chris’ expression that was not at all comforting and probably meant, in his mind, that Ev was only squeamish about <em>him</em>. But that was a conversation Yule was absolutely not ready to have.</p><p>“So,” she said, rising from her bed with determined energy. “How have you been getting on with that podcast idea where you sarcastically review biographies of people you knew?”</p><p>She really needed to work on her list of distracting topics, or she’d never make it through the week.</p><p>---</p><p>Yule knew what was going on. Or, she knew <em>part </em>of what was going on. The part that she was going to have to address. That part being that she was living with a werewolf who – for a couple bewildering days – had tried to pack bond with an extremely solitary vampire who was still trying to maintain respectful distance. This had resulted in both of them being so <em>unbearably</em> awkward around each other that by now Yule was pretty sure they were both trying to avoid running into one another in their own damn flat.</p><p>If she allowed this to go on for another few weeks, Ev and Chris would work each other up to such heights of baseless anxiety that it would make the situation absolutely unliveable. Something had to be done.</p><p>She had better start with Ev.</p><p>-</p><p>“Listen,” Yule said, jostling Ev companionably in front of the sink while she peeled onions and they rinsed the uncooked rice. “You can’t be tiptoeing around your own house all the time. We can just sit down and <em>talk</em> about this stuff. You’ve never lived with anyone but werewolves, he’s never lived with anyone but vampires, but I’ve never lived with either, so between us we should be able to make this work.”</p><p>Ev growled softly at the back of their throat. Not an aggressive growl, Yule knew, but a nervous one. “What if I mess up and make it worse?”</p><p>“You’re not gonna make it worse,” Yule assured Ev, handing them the bowl she had just kneaded the mincemeat in for them to lick clean. “Remember how I trapped him in our apartment by putting that potted rose at the balcony door? He doesn’t hold that against me either.”</p><p>“Yeah but you’re friends… You’ve known each other for forever…”</p><p>Yule clicked her tongue, putting the water on the boil for the rice. “As far as Chris’ existence is concerned, he might as well have known me for half an hour.”</p><p>“He’s not <em>that</em> old,” Ev snorted into the bowl.</p><p>“And yet he refuses to cancel his subscription to that TV guide.”</p><p>That at least got a genuine laugh out of Ev’s snout.</p><p>“Here’s the thing,” Yule said, leaning against Ev from behind. “I <em>love</em> this apartment. And gods help me, I love the both of you. So we’re <em>gonna</em> learn to be chill and cohabitate. Why don’t we all write down some house rules? So there’s no more accidental roses or socks or anything. Sound good?”</p><p>“I mean, yeah, if Chris is okay with that.”</p><p>“You leave him to me.”</p><p>-</p><p>The living room was barely big enough for the couch and the armchair, but Chris really liked his chair so they had managed to cram them both in. He was sitting in it now, watching something on the TV that he had previously carefully circled in his viewing guide with yellow marker.</p><p>“Good show?” Yule asked, stepping over his legs to get to the couch.</p><p>“Mhm,” he hummed, silently reaching out to move his coat off the couch.</p><p>Yule made a soft noise of appreciation, stretching out on the couch with her book and bowl of snacks. Ev preferred it when she ate pre-shelled nuts. Something about the cracking sounds didn’t sit right with them. So Yule compromised and only ate the uncracked ones when Ev wasn’t home. They called them her enrichment snacks. But they weren’t around now, so Yule could crack to her heart’s content. She sat and read in silence, the voices on the TV a pleasant buzz in the background, and occasionally holding a particularly stubborn nut out towards Chris. Even the most uncrackable almond came apart in his hands, no matter how delicate they looked.</p><p>“This is nice,” Chris said after some twenty minutes had passed.</p><p>“Mm.” Yule smiled at her book. Only when she heard the unmistakable sound of closing credits coming from the TV, she put her book down. “I was thinking we could hang out more with the three of us.”</p><p>Chris’ expression as he looked at her was very neutral, but there was a single line of tension around his mouth that Yule didn’t overlook.</p><p>“So you and Ev can get to know each other better,” she said.</p><p>“Ah.” He looked a way for a moment. “I suppose that would be helpful.”</p><p>“I think it will,” Yule agreed encouragingly. She paused, and added: “Would it help maybe to make something of a list with house rules? With all the werewolf, vampire and human stuff we should know about each other?”</p><p>The relief flooding Chris’ face was much more visible than the tension had been. “Oh yes, I would appreciate that a lot. I mean, if Ev wouldn’t mind.”</p><p>Yule smiled.</p>
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